Misinterpreted Greetings
by IvoryMaster
Summary: While sleeping on a branch, Lucchini is suddenly awaken by Ultron. What starts out as a friendly greeting turns into harsh understanding between the two. how will the youngest witch of the 501st fair against the peace-keeping program with questionable ideas about peace?


**I do not own Strike Witches or the Avenger Films**

Francesca Lucchini was happily sleeping in her favorite spot: On top of a tree branch outside the base. She does have a room to sleep in, but sleeping in a bed makes her feel uncomfortable and thus cannot sleep, so she adopted the tree branch as her new bed. Minna does worry about how she sleeps on a branch outside. She worries that she might catch a cold or might possibly fall off and hurt herself, but as long as the 501st has been around, no accidents have occurred, but Minna can't help but worry. However, she will not force her to sleep in her assigned bed, so she must only have faith that she nothing bad will happen to her. That being said, Lucchini has slept on that branch for since she joined. Once time, Eila gave Lucchini a tarot card reading some time ago, and her cards told her that she will encounter a great sorrow if she continues to sleep on that branch. Lucchini accordingly disregarded her reading because Eila's tarot card readings are not always as accurate. Sure, she can predict the future, but those predictions are only for when a Neuroi blast a beam at her. Anything outside of that is just questionable if not wrong, so there was no need to worry about what the cards said. Tonight she going to sleep heavily as the miso soup Yoshika prepared was very delicious. So delicious that she opted to have seconds. She was surprised that Perrine was the first to finish her food first, but she did look like she was going to blow a gasket. It was probably because she was mad a Yoshika for spilling soup on the Major. Anyways, she didn't really think much of it, and allowed herself to quickly fall asleep. She was sleeping peacefully as not noise could bother to wake her up. That is, until one of Eila's tarot card readings was about to become a reality.

"Get up!" a voice screamed at her. Lucchini jolted up as she was not expecting such a harsh, loud voice to be screaming into her ear while she slept. Getting up quickly and erratically caused her to lose her balance and fall towards the ground. However, she was very nimble and managed to use her agility to flip around and make it so that she lands on her feet. A loud thud sounded when she landed on the dirt, but it was without sacrifice as the sudden landing caused a pain to resonate in her feet.

"Ow!" she yelled. Once she got out of a crouching position, she wiggled the pain way from her feet as doing so helped to alleviate the pain. Once the pain was gone, irritation soon replaced it. Like Hartmann, she also cherished her sleep, and usually she doesn't mind if she is woken up… during the day. At night, when she needs to sleep was a different story. She does not appreciate being suddenly woken up like that during the middle of the night. The only time it was acceptable if a Neuroi was coming, but that is very rare, and Sanya would handle it. Now, it was time to confront the rude person in disturbing her sleep. She turned around with a angry look on her face as she was about to complain towards the person, but her angered expression melted away upon seeing the person who woke her up. She didn't know what to say, so she blurted out the first thought that came to mind.

"A robot!" she yelled while pointing at the machine. The way she yelled was not the same way as other would have done. Others would have been surprised, then terrified upon seeing the three-meter tall robot, but her yell leaned more towards excitement rather than fear. Also, once done yelling, she started to smile, a very different reaction compared to those previous.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that sort of response." He stated as he expected her to be suspicious and have reservation about him. This is the first time she has seen him after all, but she is treated his appearance rather well. Lucchini sprinted towards the three-meter-tall metal man and began to observe him in awe, much like how a child stare into a window where a toy they want is being exhibited. She walked around him, taking mental notes of all his features as they were all breathtaking. She noticed how there were some circular openings about the size of her fist around his body. Plus, two holes on his back, suggesting to her that the robot could probably fly. She knew that she was looking at the future, and the future did not disappoint as everything about the robot was magnificent, but the one thing that she did find a little scary was his red eye. The way they looked at her made her feel uneasy, almost like they were judging her negatively. But this negativity of his eyes were drowned out by her overexcitement for him.

"Wow, Mr. Robot, you look super cool. You wouldn't mind if I jumped on you!?" she asked while she jumped towards him.

 _What is with this girl?_

Ultron was not expecting that at all. All the other witches would keep their distance from him as he gave the impression that he was someone to worry about, but Lucchini different. He felt that she saw him more as a playmate or a friend rather than what the other witches have concluded about him. She did not fear him; Lucchini saw him more as a spectacle to behold and aww at rather than a possible threat. He was starting to think that she might be too much to handle due to her overexcitement, an aspect that he did not account for when he first started these hidden meetings. Regardless, he has a twelve-year-old girl coming his way, and there was only one thing he could do. He took one big step to his right, causing Lucchini to miss him completely and land on the dirt, face first as she through her body at him without any reservations. She got back on her knees and turn around to see the robot standing over her.

"Ow! Why did you move!?" she asked with tears coming from her eyes due to the pain.

"What do you mean? I moved because you were going to jump on me. I don't need some child jumping on me. I came because I wanted to talk to you." He explained. Lucchini got back on her feet and wiped off the dirt around her knees. Once finished, she looked at him again.

"We can talk later, but right now, we should have fun. It is not every day that a robot comes out of nowhere." She explained as she prepared herself to pounce at him once more. Ultron could not understand where this girl was getting at he relocated his hand to his forehead to show the headache he was getting. He couldn't physically have one, but it gets the main idea through. She once again lunged at him, feeling confident that he will catch her, and catch her he did. With he put forth his right hand out, activating the gravity drive in his hand. The gravity field surround her, catching her in the middle of her lung. At first, Lucchini did not know what was happening. She looked around and saw nothing other than the robots right hand extended. She concluded that he must be the one who was holding her up without touching her with some sort of telekinetic power.

"Wow. So cool." She exclaimed as she again was blown back by the idea of a robot having telekinesis, a power that some witches possess. Ultron fought the urge to throw her against the wall just to get rid of that poisonous, misplaced smile she wore, but he cannot risk hurting her… at the moment. There is a time and a place for everything, and he will make her understand, but now wasn't the time. He nodded his head slightly several times as he decided to go with the alternative. he hovered her near the ground five meters away from him, and he released his grip on her, dropping her in mid-air one meter off the ground. She landed hard on her bottom, causing yet more pain as tears began to well up in the corner of her eyes.

"Ow! That wasn't very nice, you know." She whined again, picking herself up and rubbing her bottom to ease the pain.

"If you are finished jumping towards me, then I will like to begin our conversation for my patience is starting to run thin." The metal man protested towards the Romagnan witch. Lucchini finally settled down enough to give him what he wants. She first wiped off any dirt that was on her, and stood with her hands at her hips, giving him a big smile.

"Okay! But first, I want to know your name? You do have a name, don't you." she asked.

"Yes, I do. I am Ultron. Trust me when I say this. Though I look like some sort of robot, I am not." Ultron informed her. Lucchini only nodded as she didn't quite understand what he meant by that. He had a metal body, and she thinks his insides are made of wires and batteries, so how can he possibly not be a robot? Maybe it was a robot thing she thought.

"Well Ultron, I am Francesca Lucchini. I am 12 years old and 148 centimeters tall." She shared with him with a smile on her face. Lucchini was never the type to shy away from sharing that kind of information with anyone. She generally like everything with exception of the Neuroi as she hated them, which is one reason why she chose to take up arms against them.

"Yes, I already know who you are." He explained, sounding a bit annoyed as this was already repeated knowledge. "And if you are wondering how I know, listen to this." He shuffled through his memory banks and pulled up the audio files of the recordings.

 _I'm Francesca Lucchini! I'm from Rome in Romagna, born on the 24_ _th_ _of December, and I'm 12 years old! I'm the youngest in the unit and 148cm tall… but I'm going to grow taller!_

"Wait of minute, where did you get those?" she asked. She remembers giving an interview to a few Britannian reporters a while back. If she remembers correctly, they asked her about life in the 501st, the witches in it, and some other information. "Isn't that the recordings from a Britannian reporter group ." She asked him

"Yes, I managed to get my hands on them. I have all of them recorded on my memory drive." He explained while pointing towards his head.

"Oh… okay. I mean, that is from such a while ago, so I don't see any problem if you have them since they were going to be put in a newspaper, but why would you need those recordings." She questioned while tilting her head and putting a finger on her lip to assume a thinking position.

"I wanted to learn more about what you _witches_ are like. I knew that you were energetic judging by how much energy and enthusiasm you put in your answers, but never would I have assumed that you would be this energetic, especially during a time of war. You are the first person I have come across who hasn't seen me as a threat." Ultron explained. Lucchini noticed how he used the term witches as he put more emphasis on it. She also wondered what he meant by his last statement as to how everybody else saw him as a threat. Thinking about it wouldn't help her that much, so she did the next logical thing.

"First person… you mean you met others." She asked him.

"Yes, and they all treated me as a monster, and all I was trying to do is my function; the reason as to why I was created." He explained, turning his back towards her as he walked towards the direction of the moon.

"What were you created to do?" she asked.

"To have peace in our time…" he trailed off. Lucchini smiled when he said that. That is something everybody right now wants now: to return to a time where peace is established instead of being in a war with the Neuroi.

"I don't know about the people who created you, but bring peace in our time sounds like a wonder objective to have. Everybody here in the 501st and around the world are fighting for that very reason. That is why I hate the Neuroi because they destroy everything in their path and bring sadness to all. I sure that you could contribute to the efforts and help bring peace if you helped fight against the Neuroi." Lucchini suddenly straightened up as an idea came to her head.

"I know! Why don't I go and bring Minna? I am sure that she will love to meet you, Ultron." She explained as she started her way towards finding the Wing Commander. Right now, she should be asleep, but Lucchini doesn't think she won't mind being woken up this late into the night if she was going to meet a robot. Before she can get any farther, she felt light all of the sudden. She looked down and realized she was walking in place. In fact, she was floating. She looked towards Ultron's direction and saw his hand extended out using his telekinesis ability on her again. With a swift motion of his hand, she suddenly jerked her towards him until she was exactly in front of him two meters away. He then released his gravity fields around her and she fell once again hard on her bottom on the dirt.

"Ow! Why did you do that?" She whined from the stinging pain as it hurt even more seeing that her bottom hasn't recovered from the last fall. She then began to feel a little anxious as she looked up at Ultron. The way he towered over her like a giant was menacing, and that particular look of sternness and seriousness made her feel even more uneasy. This was the first time she felt like this with him.

"What makes you think that only the Neuroi are the problem in this war, Lucchini?" he asked her with a much more serious tone adopted. The sudden change of demeanor sent chills up Lucchini's spine. As a matter of fact, she was discovering that Ultron can be quite the trepidatious robot as he sounded cold and disheartening. Is was kind of like when Minna would become serious and strict, but unlike her, he seemed more… threatening. She continued to fuel the conversation.

"What are you talking about? The Neuroi are the ones that started this war, so…" she hesitantly explained, now starting to understand a bit why certain people found him scary.

"So you think that they are the ones you must beat. That seems perfectly logical seeing that they have driven thousands from their homes, but solely thinking that the Neuroi are to blame is quite misguided, if not arrogant." He explained to her. She did not quite understand what he meant by that.

"Are you saying that the Neuroi are not the ones to be blame for this war?" she exclaimed, saying the parts that she did understood.

"I am not saying that. The Neuroi do share the blame for the war. I am just saying that they are not entirely to blame. Let me ask you this, do you think your efforts will ever succeed?" he inquired.

"Of course. I know that we will beat the Neuroi someday." She answered, however, Ultron didn't seem too satisfied with that answer as she didn't understand the question.

"That is not what I meant. I am saying that will any efforts humanity makes will ever bring peace. Even if you beat the Neuroi tomorrow, how long can you maintain that peace until they reappear again. It seems to me that they keep coming back stronger." Lucchini can feel the frustration in his voice, like he has explained this to many others before.

"Well… I… I don't know. I just want to defeat the Neuroi so that people don't have to suffer anymore. So people like Minna and Perrine can have their homelands back" she defended.

"You are still not understanding the main point. Even if they get their homelands back, it will be only a matter of time before the next war begins, and the peace is disrupted once more." He confidently said. He knows that this world, this realm, is different than the realm he came from, but they did share their similarities, and one was war. Though it wasn't with each other, Ultron can predict when war would break out using the history from the other realm, his home realm. If is calculations are correct, the next war should occur somewhere in Korea, or whatever Korea is called here.

"Like I told you previous, I was created to bring peace, and judging from what I have seen, you witches are clearly unable to bring peace. Unlike you, I have harmony. This world is in desperate need of a change, and you humans seem hesitant towards taking the first steps. If you are not willing, then I will take them for you for I know what has to happen. I would take the time to explain it to you, but appears that you are too young to understand anything of my plan for peace. That is the thing with you humans, you scratch the surface, but never look within." Lucchini had no response to what he has said. She didn't know exactly how to comment on what he has said. She knows that the Neuroi are the ones to blame for the war, but the way Ultron explained it, it seems that humanity is also at fault. That just didn't sit right with her. Perrine, Minna, and the rest of the witches are not the ones to blame for the war. How can Ultron remotely blame them for this war? She wanted to say something; something that could change the way Ultron viewed her and the others, but she didn't know what exactly, but she knew that he was wrong, and she wanted to make him understand that.

"You're wrong about us. I don't think we are the ones to blame for his war. All we want to do is return back to our homes. Even though my country has not been taken over, I joined because I had a sense of duty to help those around me. I don't know what you think about us, but I am confident that whatever you are thinking, it is wrong, so if you do not intend to help us, then you should just leave." She yelled at him. Ultron had to admit that she was uncharacteristically wise, but yet, he still found her logic flawed, and it seemed that talking to her more would not cause her to rethink her stance. One thing that he was starting to find with these witches was they are obstinate, and it that same stubbornness would ultimately lead them to their downfall.

"It looks like my time with you has ran out. I have other matters to attend to, so I want to make something clear. Do not reveal my existence to anyone because I can make certain people's lives difficult. One person that comes to mind is… your sweet mother." He revealed.

"What!? You leave my mama alone you jerk." She fired back, but Ultron found little threat from her hollow statement.

"I will, so long as you don't tell anybody. And just to give you a clear picture, I can be in Romagna in half an hour." Lucchini froze as she heard that. There was a chance that he was lying, but it seems like throughout the conversation, he has been telling the truth. She had no other choice but to do what he has asked her. She can't allow her mother to get hurt. She grinded her teeth as she couldn't do anything. This was the first time that she has felt powerless in a situation.

"Before I go, there is one thing that I have been meaning to do." He used his repulsion systems to lift himself up toward the brank where Lucchini would sleep. He took a moment to observe it, pondering how she can sleep in such a place. Thinking about it made his head hurt, so he was just going to do what he needed. He raised his hand up, using the heater systems in his hands to quickly warm up his hand to a high temperature, and with one swift motion, he brought it down with such velocity, cutting through the branch like it was butter, and like butter, it was a near perfect cut as there were no splinters to be seen.

"Why did you do that? That is where I sleep?" she shouted, unable to believe that he just destroyed her sleeping place. He had only one response.

"Learn to sleep in a bed for a change." With that sudden, rude comment, Ultron walked out towards the runway and took off into the sky, slowly disappearing into the night. Lucchini stood over her chopped-off bed lying on the ground. It took her three days to find something that comfortable to sleep, and now it lied on the ground. Feeling that she had no other choice, she decided to go into the base and try to sleep in her bed, and start looking for a new branch to sleep in tomorrow. It was at this moment that Eila's tarot card reading returned to Lucchini's memories once more. After thinking about it, it was probably unwise of her to disregard her reading as today's meeting served as proof to her fortune.

"Next time, I should take Eila's reading more serious." She said to herself as she headed towards her room.


End file.
